Dan Walters

Adrian De La Cruz fills his work truck with diesel gas at a filling station in west Fresno on May 7, 2024. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local

Commentary

California’s transition off carbon fuels could upset gasoline supply, prices

California may be facing a period of volatility on both gas supply and price as it attempts to wean itself from combustion-powered transportation, its largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions.

By

Dan Walters

• October 30, 2024

A person, wearing a bluew suit and white shirt, stands behind a podium with a small sign that reads "light, camera, jobs" while several people stand behind him.

Commentary

Why Newsom wants California taxpayers to spend millions more subsidizing Hollywood

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants the next state budget to more than double a tax credit for the entertainment industry, despite its overstated value to California's economy.

By

Dan Walters

• October 29, 2024

Dan Walters

Election will test power of Californians’ backlash against crime

Crime could be setting the Democratic Party on the path of an atmospheric shift, putting the brakes on the party’s leftward tilt.

By

Dan Walters

• October 25, 2024

Water rushes out of the Oroville Spillway at Lake Oroville in Butte County, on March 26, 2023. California ended its 2022-23 water year on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. After years of severe drought, the reservoirs in the state water project ended the year at 128% of their historical average. That includes Lake Oroville. Photo by Noah Berger, AP Photo

Commentary

California reservoirs are flush, but water politics may trump hydrology

In California, water politics are tricky, but they're as important as hydrological factors like precipitation and storage.

By

Dan Walters

• October 24, 2024

An aerial view of a residential neighborhood. Houses line the streets as rooftops are visible from up high. A park with a large pond is visible in the distance.

Commentary

California homeowners enjoy large wealth gains while more people get priced out

California has one of the lowest homeownership rates in the nation. Similar to other economic indices, it also includes a strong racial component that affects state's generational wealth gap.

By

Dan Walters

• October 23, 2024

People sit at a row of cubicles at a job center.

Commentary

Unemployment rate doesn’t tell the full story of California’s unhealthy labor force

California’s official unemployment rate remained unchanged in September at 5.3%. That doesn’t sound alarming, unless one dives more deeply into the data.

By

Dan Walters

• October 22, 2024

A homeless man wearing a white button up shirt and plaid shorts pushes a wheelchair next to a homeless encampment in Skid Row with the Los Angeles skyline in the background.

Commentary

How much would it cost to end homelessness in California? Try more than $100 billion

Extrapolating from a report on housing Los Angeles' homeless population, it could cost California $10 billion a year, for 10 years, to fix homelessness statewide.

By

Dan Walters

• October 18, 2024

President Donald Trump stands a at podium during a campaign rally. The podium has a sign in front that reads: TRUMP VANCE, and is situated behind a wall of plexiglass. People can be seen in front and behind the podium.

Commentary

Harris vs. Trump competition tests California’s image among swing state voters

Former President Donald Trump is hoping that bashing California for its sins will help him win swing state voters who hold dark thoughts about this state.

By

Dan Walters

• October 17, 2024

Mario Ramirez Garcia, 10, works on schoolwork at home on April 23, 2021. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters

Commentary

California has seen too many debacles. Prolonged school closures may be the worst

California’s educational achievement crisis is negatively impacting the futures of millions of kids and the state’s economy. That would have been a better topic for the nothingburger special legislative session Gov. Gavin Newsom called on gas prices.

By

Dan Walters

• October 16, 2024

Four people sit at a panel table in front of microphones, speaking to an audience during a hearing.

Commentary

What’s behind all the political theater over California’s high gasoline prices?

Despite such high prices, gasoline is still a relatively small segment of what it costs to live in California. Nevertheless, gas prices command an inordinately high level of public attention as a symbol of anxiety about living costs in general, and therefore are ripe for political exploitation.

By

Dan Walters

• October 15, 2024